Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-05
SAN REED'S INQUEST.
Testimony of General Stanley aud tbs cost
Chaplain.

Testimony of General Stanley and th7 cost
Chaplain.
specia! TO the Gazette.
san ANTONIO, Ten, June The in
quest or the dead body Of Sam Reed, the
desperate military criminal, wgs con-
cluded to-dsy at noon. Tle main testi-
mony Ugs furnished by General Stanley
and Post Chaplin Swift.
General STANLEY said Reed was arrested
over q month sg0 for deser,j0n, aud at
the same time Il was reported 20 me ne
was under sentence Of death ST Mq.a-
mOrss, Mex, for murder, and was
charged with theft III Texas aGd California.
| simply held him tor deserti0r, cut adj
Vt5ed the authorities of Mexico thzt ne
might BE- tuT2eC over 10 them under
the 5XtraditlOn law. Thew hsvg w TO
this time made no response. Two tepu-
tY sieIiEf5 have been here representing
Hidalg1 county, with warrants for Reed,
saying be was indicted for felony in that
county. | advised the military here to
turn Reed over . them, but they could
not identify the man, aud had his initials
wrong on the capias. The deputies then
declined to take the responsibility of tax
ing charge Of Reed. / then ordered that
he be cOurt-martialed for desertiOu. Al
ter mis- I heard no more of it until il was
reported to me that the man was shot,
and two days after died. The order is,
aud has always been, for the guards TO
go with guns loaded, and o senti-
mel would scarcely be justified in
shooting g man confined for trivial breach
of discipline. Sentinels are Invariably
tried by general court martial and If cor
viCted are punished for allowing any pris-
oner to run away from them without
doing their best 10 shoot him after COM
msnding him 70 hault. This is lmpers-
tive where the charge is desertiou or fel-
Ony and more particular orders are given
sentinels in such serious cases. The pen
atty in desertiOn would have been small
compared TO Whist he was charged with
think the Mexican authorities have ap-
piled for him through Washington.
Post Chaplain Henry Swift said ne saw
ReedlEafter being shot three times. On
my third visit he made confession to me
as a priest of the church. | asked him if
ne was willing to have any statement
made in case of death, and he said he par
ticIpated IN the burglary and murder com
mitted in MatamOfas, that he ard Will
liams and several Mexica1s entered the
house for the purpose OF committing
burglary. He denied sOlemnly having
struck any blow himself. He said an
iron was used and the blows were struck
by the ether fellow. l did not ask him
the name, but inferred tha5 it
was the other deserter. After
escaping from prison he crosse,I the
border to Texas and was in this state
till the time of MS arrest He refers to
man named Magee, who was q Methodist
local preacher and has ranch near here
He Yves with him for several weeks after
his escape. 1 asked him ABOUT Cslifor-
mia. He said he hadn't time to get to
and denied having committed
any crime in that state. He said that
his name was S. G. Reed, and that he
came from Montgomery and was &C
quainted with some people l knew of.
He didn't know where Williams was, but
be was in town when he was arrested
The verdict of the jury was that Reed
came tC his death by a sunsh0t wound
inflicted by the guards in the lawful dis
charge of their duty.